Popular messaging app Rakuten Viber is now a full-fledged “superapp” that offers a wide range of features and benefits to users.
The growth of Viber is astounding, to put it mildly, starting with its humble beginnings as a free call system on the iPhone in 2010, seeing an Android launch in 2012, and its evolution phases, such as stickers and other improvements over the years.
In a recent Manila press briefing, Viber said that in addition to messaging and calling, it now offers payments, file sharing, stickers and GIFs, public chats, and Viber Communities.
Viber added that it is also expanding its reach in the Philippines, where it already has a 71 percent penetration rate.
Given the way Rakuten Viber is developing, their domestic market may experience further growth in the number of users, which could lead to more development for them in the Philippines.
The company’s chief revenue officer, Cristina Constandache, told journalists that Filipinos have been using Viber in a number of ways even before the innovations they have introduced.
She said that for Viber, modern-day communications can empower commerce and retail.
For one, businesses on Viber are personalized for each user as a result of learning from user feedback, and in their self-serve beta account, 80 percent of their user base is in the food service sector.
Superapps are mobile apps that offer a wide range of services, such as messaging, calling, social media, e-commerce and more. Superapps are popular in Asia, but they are becoming increasingly popular in other parts of the world as well.
Free to use for most features, such as messaging, calling, and video calling, Viber offers end-to-end encryption for all messages and calls, which means that only the sender and recipient can see or hear them.
Presently, Viber is available in over 190 countries and has over 1 billion active users.